The Greatest Adventure
by Phinneas McCheeser
Summary: Will and Alyss go on a diplomatic mission to Skanida. While there, Alyss gives birth, and the two embark on the greatest adventure of all: parenthood. Araluen will never be the same. CURRENTLY BEING TOTALLY REWRITTEN - ALL chapters will be replaced before any new updates come out. Please be patient.
1. Prologue:In Which Will Receives a Letter

**Hey, all! I know that I have a lot of readers for this story, and I really want to continue it. I do, however, feel that I have grown a lot as a writer from the day I wrote the prologue to the day I reread this and decided that I had to rewrite sections of it. And so, here you go. I have edited and replaced and/or deleted some big chunks of it. I hope you enjoy the new version!**

**-Christine**

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><p><strong>Prologue:<br>****The Letter**

_Ranger Will Treaty:_

_Your presence is requested on a diplomatic mission to Hallasholm, Skandia to oversee how the affairs of the Hallasholm Treaty are working. If you should accept, Ranger Halt and the Oakleaf Knight Horace Altman will be your traveling companions. Please report back to Crowley, Ranger #1 with your reply._

_All that boring stuff over, I know you'll accept, so why did I even bother to send this? I hate protocol, stupid stuff, but all the same, send me a formal reply, blah blah blah, etcetera. See you at Castle Araluen on June 5th!_

_-Crowley_

"Alyss!" Will called. He smiled to himself. It had been a total of three years since Alyss Mainwaring had become Alyss Treaty. In that time, the two had quickly become used to the other disappearing for sometimes months at a time, occasionally with little or no explanations. They both had their careers, after all, Will reflected.

"Yes?" his wife answered. "What is it?"

"I'll be going on a mission to Hallasholm with Halt and Horace," he said. Will could hear her footsteps coming closer. He turned, and smiled in spite of himself at the sight of her swollen pregnant stomach. "Here." He held out the notice, and watched her as she thoroughly examined it. When she was through, the expression on her face was one of extreme dismay.

Will could have slapped himself. As a matter of fact, he did. Alyss's agonized tones turned slightly puzzled.

"Will?" she questioned. He couldn't well blame her, Will supposed. After all, it was quite a sight to see your husband slap himself in the face, especially if said husband was rather famous throughout the Kingdom. He frowned.

"Sorry, Alyss—I forgot. The baby would be due while I'm away, right?" She nodded, smiling slightly. Will turned away, slightly relieved. Alyss was feeling rather touchy at the moment—and Will couldn't blame her. Carrying a baby around for nine months must have been tiring.

Behind Will's back, Alyss's small smile turned into a frown as she spun on her heels to face him. "You. Forgot. That. I. Was. PREGNANT?" she yelled. She smacked him and flounced out of the room. Will reached up a hand to touch the red mark on his face and grimaced. At least there was only one month left.

It was with that small consolation that he went to enter their room, but found it locked from the inside. Mentally, Will kicked the door down, stormed over to his writing desk and retrieved some parchment and ink. Instead, he moved over to the kitchen and pulled some out of a cupboard (it was not the first time Will had found himself locked out of his room with the need to write an urgent letter). He wrote in the neatest handwriting he could muster, given the circumstances, then shoved the letter in an envelope and harnessed Tug.

"Alyss! I'm leaving!" he called. He heard a muffled response that sounded something like "Please do!," rolled his eyes, and left for town. When he came back, he knew, he would most likely be greeted by a sobbing, tearstained Alyss, who would be apologizing profusely for smacking him. She would fuss unnecessarily over the barely noticeable red mark on his face, run inside to make dinner (despite his protests), and he would be sleeping on the couch by dinnertime.

Will grinned wryly to himself. "Maybe I'll spend the night at Halt's…" he mused.

_Later that night at Halt's_

"So you got the note about the mission as well?" Halt questioned. Will rolled his eyes.

"Since I was listed as one of your traveling companions, one might assume so." Halt gave him one of his famous glares.

"I was merely checking." Will glanced at him skeptically, but allowed Halt to change tack anyways. "You _are_ coming, right?"

"I most certainly am not," Will replied. "As a matter of fact, Crowley's stupid letter is the reason I'm exiled to your cabin for the night. Alyss was not pleased when she saw it."

Halt nodded. Will, Alyss, and himself had gone to visit the royal couple several months ago. Halt knew Evanlyn could be rather frightening if needed, but a pregnant Evanlyn… Well, he knew Horace was relieved when she gave birth to their little girl, Evangeline.

"So I sent Crowley my letter today. Hopefully I'll be welcome in our house tomorrow," Will said. Halt raised an eyebrow—his equivalent of a grin.

"Hopefully so." He turned to leave the room. At the last second, he turned to face Will.

"If not, you're welcome to stay over tomorrow night as well." Will nodded, watching that man he'd always thought of as a father figure leave the room. He knew he would always be welcome in his house.

With that thought, he got up and headed for his old room.

_Crowley:_

_I regret to say that I will not be able to accept the mission due to the fact that my wife, Alyss, is pregnant and is expected to give birth while, if I had accepted, was gone._

_I _am _sorry; Crowley, but I can't leave her, and you can't really expect me to. She is my wife, after all._

_-Will Treaty_

"Hmmm." Crowley bit his lip as he thought it over. The team would work a lot better if Will were a part of it. But Crowley did not expect him to leave his pregnant wife to give birth while he was gone. That was just plain out unfair.

He thought… And thought… And thought… And:

"YES!"

_Will:_

_How would you and Alyss feel if…?_

"Alyss!" Will called. He had been allowed back in the house, after promising he wouldn't go on any missions for another year.

"Yes?" his wife answered. "What is it?"

Will grinned slyly. "How would you like to accompany me on a mission?"

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><p><strong>I did rewrite this, and I do feel that it's better than it was before, but that doesn't mean I'm not accepting constructive criticism! If it has a point, bring it on - oh, and don't forget to review in the first place.<strong>

**-Christine**

**_Prologue - Words: 980_  
><strong>


	2. In Which Crowley and Halt Argue

**Revision note: I made this chapter a little bit longer, and tried to make Halt a little more IC. **

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**"You Did What?"**

"You did what?"

"Halt, please see reason, it's the only alternative. We need Will, and Alyss is going to be helpful with the diplomatic side of things."

"You're saying I'm not diplomatic."

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean, kind of, but that's beside the point."

"Crowley, you are an idiot. What is the point?"

"They said yes, Halt! Dang it, why do you have to be so argumentative!"

"It's in my nature."

"I hate your nature."

"Why, in the name of all that's holy, did you let them do this?"

"It was a suggestion, and please keep your voice down, we're in an office and people can hear you."

"She's practically my daughter-in-law."

"Yes."

"She's pregnant."

"Yes."

"She's due to give birth in less just over a month."

"I suppose so, yes."

"And you _suggested_ that she go on an active mission with my apprentice?"

"_Ex_-apprentice, Halt, he must've graduated some five years back."

"Seven."

"All right then, seven. Look, Halt, they accepted, and you and Horace are going with them! What can go wrong?"

"I'll tell you what can go wrong, and I'll tell you what you've already hopelessly bungled."

"I haven't 'hopelessly bungled' anything, as you so eloquently put it."

"You scheduled us to set sail in the middle of the Summer Gales with my _ex_-apprentice's pregnant wife, you idiot!"

"…"

"Oops?"

"_Oops _doesn't quite cut it."

"…"

"How about sorry?"

"Never mind, just keep trying to convince me that this is a good idea. In a few moments, I will tire of your meaningless chatter to the point where I will either agree to this mad excuse for a mission, or I murder the person responsible. So please go on."

"I hate it when you get this way."

"Then someone's out of luck."

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><p>"Finally! Halt, I win!"<p>

"In another's eyes, that might not be considered a good thing."

"Whose eyes?"

"Yours."

"Mine?"

"Yours."

"Why?"

"Shut up, Crowley, or so help me I will actually execute the vengeful plan I have been devising while you were rambling away."

"What plan?"

"Do you really want your carcass to be dragged behind Kicker all the way to Norgate?"

"Who's Kicker?"

"…"

"Idiot."

"Look, Halt, I don't know who Kicker is, but I really don't believe this will end all that badly. Think about it."

"What if Alyss gives birth en route?"

"…She won't."

"Are you sure?"

"I believe this meeting is over."

"_I_ believe you are going to regret calling this 'meeting' once we get back."

"All right, then, feel free to come hunt me down when you all return safe and sound."

"I might have a hard time doing that if we're all dead."

"Oh, go away. And—_don't slam the door!_"

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><p><strong>Obviously, I attempted to write a chapter using dialogue only. I got the idea from Elfpen, in her fic 'Of Family and Friends', chapter 6. It looked fun, so I decided to try it out for myself. And I thought it was really fun, I might do another one in another of my assorted ficlets lying around in dusty old niches.<strong>

**Disclaimer: Do I sound like John Flanagan?**

**Chapter 1: 457 words (also short, but hey, I got rid of the description, so it was supposed to be short!)**


	3. In Which Horace Gets Excited

**I basically scrapped this entire chapter and rewrote it from scratch. The minichapters are gone - to everyone's relief - and most of the dialogue is completely different, to make it less OOC.**

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><p>Alyss leaned over and kissed Will lightly on the cheek. He grinned at her.<p>

"Finally," she said. "I can't wait to meet this Erak, if he's anything like Gundar."

"He is," Will assured her. "He is that."

Two days ago, Wolfwill had left the Araluen coast. Horace, Will, Alyss, and Halt were all on board. At first, the experienced sea traveler, Will, had worried about the Summer Gales, but now he was slowly letting himself slip away from the worry.

Alyss smiled at him, then gasped.

"What is it? Are you all right?" Will asked her immediately. She nodded, and then did what Will was least expecting her to do—she laughed.

"Will, come here. The baby's kicking." Smiling broadly, Will reached out his hand to her stomach, laughing when he felt their child's strong kicks. He was still for a moment, then frowned.

"It feels almost like there are two of them in there," he said nervously. Alyss smiled reassuringly.

"Then we might have twins." Will's face, it must be admitted, grew slightly panicked at the thought of dealing with two children at once. "Oh, Will, it's not so bad, we just could have another child!"

"Could we really handle two?" he asked. Alyss sighed.

"I think we could—at this rate, I think we had better be able to. But even if we can't—"

"It's still wonderful," Will said, smiling slightly. Alyss nodded.

"It's amazing." For several minutes they just stood in silence, holding hands.

"We should tell Halt," Alyss said softly. Will nodded his agreement.

"Yes, but let's wait. I don't want to leave yet."

"Neither do I."

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><p>"You always have made the best coffee," Horace said to Halt as he sipped his mug of the aforementioned drink appreciatively. Halt nodded, a rather self-satisfied smirk on his face.<p>

"Yes, and the fact that Will isn't here to enjoy it makes it so much better," he said, smiling lightly. Horace snorted, knowing perhaps more than anyone that the older Ranger's apparent annoyance in his former apprentice was completely fake.

"Speaking of, where are those two?" he asked. "Alyss not being here, I can understand, but Will?"

"They're talking names," Halt responded. Horace frowned, confused.

"I thought they already decided on names," he said. Halt nodded.

"Yes, but something rather unexpected has come up." Before Horace could ask him what, he decided to just continue. "Alyss believes—and if anyone knows, it's her—that she and Will are having twins."

To say that Horace was shocked was an understatement.

"You might want to close your mouth sometime soon," Halt said mildly, and Horace did so immediately, not even having been aware that it was open.

"Twins!" he said, stunned. Halt raised an eyebrow.

"I believe that is what I said, yes."

"Halt, that's—that's wonderful!"

Horace's face was alight with joy for his best friends, and Halt found himself marveling at what an excellent man he had turned out to be.

"Yes, it is," he said finally, a slight grin coming onto his face. "Yes it is."

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><p>"How about if it's a girl, I get the final say, and if it's a boy, you get the final say," Alyss suggested. Will nodded.<p>

"That sounds fair enough. Did you have any names in mind?"

His wife nodded, pausing to tuck a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear. "I like the names Stacy and Aubrielle—more as two separate names than one, I think."

"Do you want them to have middle names?" Will asked. Alyss looked up at him.

"Yes, I rather think I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Will began, "I was thinking that if we want to name them after people, we would use their middle names so we don't have two people running around with the same name."

"That makes sense," Alyss agreed. "What names were you thinking?"

Will stared up at the rough wooden ceiling pensively. "If it's a boy, I want to name if after my father," he said. Alyss allowed herself a small smile.

"Which one?" she asked. Will smiled back at her.

"Both," he said.

"Daniel Halt Treaty," Alyss mused. "It has a ring to it. And it solves our problem of having two people with the same name."

"And, of course, there's only one Halt," Will reflected.

"Of course," Alyss echoed thoughtfully. "Of course."

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><p><strong>There ya have it! Another chapter re-completed! I really hope this is better than it was before.<strong>

**_Word count: 727_  
><strong>


	4. CHAPTER NOT YET REPLACED

**I really am sorry if you all can't stand me putting two mini-chapters inside one real chapter. If you have a problem with that, **_**then you need to be more… flexible**_** (anyone who can tell me what movie those italics come from gets a prize!)**

Chapter 3a

Arrival

"Will, we have an idiot for a Commandant." This statement, coming from Halt, was spoken with unusual vehemence. Will scowled.

"Believe me, I knew as soon as he suggested us coming out here in the middle of the Summer Gales."

Halt still looked a little greenish from the storm. Alyss glared at whatever was ahead of her.

"He's lucky that that storm didn't injure me or send me into premature labor or something," she said. Horace grimaced, seeing her determined glare.

"I'm sure he is."

oOo

After suffering through all the necessary paperwork, the foursome was ready to enter the commons at Hallasholm.

"Think Erak will be glad to see you?" Alyss asked Will.

"I'm sure," he said back. "And this will be his first time meeting you."

He put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered in his ear.

"I love you too," he said, giving her an extra reassuring squeeze. She smiled at him.

"Does he know you got married?" she asked. He considered for a moment before replying.

"Probably not. We invited him and Svengal to the wedding, along with Gundar and Nils, of course, but heard no reply, so it's most likely that the mail ship sank, or for some other reason didn't make it."

"Wonder how he'll take it," she said softly.

"He'll never let me live it down," Will replied, "But it'll have been worth it."

And then they were at the giant set of pine doors.

Chapter 3b

Erak

There was a sense of déjà vu about seeing these doors again. He glanced at Halt, and knew he was remembering the scene as well: Will and Evanlyn, terrified of what lie ahead, and Halt and Horace looking determined. All of them somehow summoned their courage and knocked…

Alyss rapped her knuckles on the massive pine doors. It was a full five minutes before a disgruntled attendant opened them, and then was subject to Alyss' lecture on manners until they reached the dining hall.

The attendant knocked on the doors, then opened them and scurried away, looking for the entire world like a frightened mouse. He chanced a glance back at Alyss and fled. And they all entered.

It was Alyss' first time in the dining hall, yet she gave the illusion of familiarity by moving with the group and keeping her eyes ahead, as if she had already seen all the intricate details of the amazing room.

Erak was arguing with Borsa about the taxes. Again.

"I could care less!" he yelled. "Tarkson's always paid before, and I have enough money as is. Let him keep it!" Borsa was just turning his world-famous glare on Erak when Erak saw them.

"Will Treaty!" he bellowed. "You're here! Why did you sail during the Summer Gales?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he picked Will up in a giant bear hug.

None of the assembled party could hide their smiles when Will squeaked, "Put me down… Need to breathe…"

Grinning, Erak dropped Will, who got up and glared. But Erak was glancing not at Will, but at Alyss. He stood up and made introductions.

"Erak, this is my wife, Alyss, Alyss, this is Erak."

"Pleased to meet you," Alyss said, offering Erak her hand. Erak totally ignored it, and scooped her up in a hug that was, if possible, more forcible than the one he had given Will. When he put her down, her eyes were wide.

"I'm… pregnant, idiot," she gasped. Horace unsuccessfully stifled a laugh.

"Relax!" he said when he got glared at. Will sighed.

Oh, the joys of having a family of friends.

Chapter 3c

Catching Up

"So Will, why didn't you tell me you were getting married?" Erak asked him. Will grinned.

"We did send you an invite, but you never replied," Alyss answered. Erak looked questioningly at Will.

"I told her you would never respond, you would just sort of show up, but—" Will caught Alyss's look and fell silent. Svengal smiled broadly.

"Guess we know who wears the pants in this relationship!" he joked. Everyone except Will stared at Svengal.

"Ummm…" Horace said eloquently. Will gave him a half-smile.

"It's a Skandian saying." Halt looked decidedly perturbed—he rather prided himself on knowing those.

"What does it mean?" he asked. Will grinned at him—Halt had a feeling he knew the exact meaning behind the request.

"I believe that information is being withheld until further notice."

_5 minutes later_

"Gosh Halt, no need to get so worked up about this!" Will had a slightly nervous look on his face as Halt advanced.

"There is a need."

"How about we negotiate?" Will said as he backed away from his mentor, who had a sadistic sort of gleam in his eyes. Really, if he had known Halt would get so mad over a small figure of speech…

"This situation is completely nonnegotiable."

Will swallowed. "Dang."

"Alyss, I think your husband will be dead before the dawn," Erak commented, watching Will backing his way into a corner.

"Yes Erak, you and Svengal can help me plan the funeral."

**OK, I rewrote that end part because I know a lot of you didn't understand it. Now there's some description. **

**Here are this chapter's stats:**

**Chapter 3a: 239 words**

**Chapter 3b: 346 words**

**Chapter 3c: 246 words**

**Chapter 3: 854 words**

**Once again, people: FLOW! Please review me about that, as I really am concerned. Some chapters seem kinda… choppy to me, I wanna know if you all agree. If so, I will try my hardest to change it, but if I don't know it's there (cuz none of yinz told me!) then I can't be expected to change it. Besides, it takes, like, two seconds to review, already.**

**Next chapter comes a surprise! If anyone guesses what it is, I'll give them a prize as well!**

**Disclaimer: I do not, and never will own RA **


	5. In Which Alyss Makes a Friend

**Revision Note: Hopefully this chapter is a bit better than the old version. You may have noticed that I replaced chapter four before replacing chapter three. The simple reason for this is that chapter three is giving me a hard time, so I decided to work on something else for a bit and then come back to it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new and improved chapter four!**

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><p>Will sighed contentedly. This was what he thought of when he remembered Skandia, he mused. Warm, bright fires, heady pine smoke, time spent with friends. And, of course, the occasional drunk Skandian bursting into song—if you could call it that.<p>

He felt Alyss rest her head on his shoulder and sigh contentedly. It was a moment before she spoke. "Halt wants me to see a midwife," she said. Will nodded.

"Then you'd best get to it." There was a pause.

"I don't want to. I'm fine."

Will turned so he was facing his wife. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and her deep grey eyes glittered in the firelight as her lips moved into a petulant pout. "You always do as Halt says," he said jokingly. "Or there will be consequences." He winked. His wife gave a deep sigh and rested her hand lightly on her stomach.

"Oh, all right," she said playfully. "If you say so."

"If Halt says so," Will corrected. "I never said anything."

"But you agree with him."

"I suppose—probably—well, yes," he admitted. "Yes. I am of like mind in this situation."

Alyss gave an exaggerated sigh. "Well then, if you_ insist_." Will smiled at her.

"I just want you and our baby to be safe."

"Babies," Alyss corrected him in a whisper. Will nodded, unable to help a smile once again breaking out on his face.

"_Babies._"

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><p>The visit to the midwife's was short and to the point. It didn't take long for the kindly woman to see that Alyss was doing well, as were the babies.<p>

"You definitely have more than one in there," she said, grinning at Alyss, who grinned back. For perhaps the first time, the idea of having twins didn't scare her.

"Twins?" she asked. The midwife frowned.

"Maybe more." She laughed at the shellshocked expression on Alyss' face. "It's a maybe! Afraid you won't be able to handle more?"

Alyss nodded dumbly. "Something like that." She swallowed. Sensing that she could trust the gentle, motherly woman, she decided to continue. "Also, my husband and I are both frequent participants in... Active missions." The midwife nodded, walking around busily.

"I know all about your husband. He is very famous hereabouts. And please, dear, call me Ola."

"Very well... Ola," Alyss tried the name, and found that she liked it. "It suits you."

"Thank you dear," Ola said with a cheerful grin. After a few more minutes, Alyss was declared perfectly healthy.

"You and the babies are doing fine," Ola said with a warm smile. "I would recommend getting a lot of rest until they're born. Don't do any housework or chores; I'm sure the others will be able to handle all of that perfectly well themselves. Sleep more than you think you should and drink a lot of water."

"You make it sound as though I'm sick," Alyss said, pulling a face. Ola laughed.

"No, you're perfectly healthy. But," she said, tilting her head, "if I'm right your due date is coming up, and you're going to need a lot of strength for that. Best to rest now, while you're able."

"You're correct, as always," Alyss said, shaking her head slightly. "Very well then. Rest and relaxation it is. Thank you," she said, moving to rise from her chair. Ola clucked her tongue in disapproval and rushed to her side, offering Alyss a hand and helping her up. She was surprisingly strong.

"Watch yourself, now!" she said. "There now," she continued, having seen that Alyss was safely standing and hadn't been sent into premature labor with the small movement, "come back if you start having any problems, though I doubt you will. Have someone come and get me when you go into labor, all right?" She looked up expectantly at the elegant blonde woman, who nodded immediately.

"I will. Thank you, Ola."

"See you soon!" The midwife waved merrily as Alyss disappeared down the street with her husband who had been waiting outside. Once they were safely out of earshot, she nodded to herself. "Very soon indeed."

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><p><strong>Words: 684<strong>

**Don't forget to review! You don't even have to click the button anymore!**


	6. In Which Halt is Speechless

**Revision Notice: I have had two cousins give birth in the past year, so I know a little more of what I'm talking about. Hopefully this chapter is more realistic than its predecessor. I also made it a lot longer. Longer is better, though, right? Right. Enjoy!**

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><p>A week had passed since Alyss' visit to the midwife. For the most part, the tall Courier had obeyed every one of Ola's commands, disregarding them only to help Will or Horace when she felt they would make more of a mess without her help. Other than that, Halt had seen that she had gotten a great deal of rest, and done practically nothing in the way of work. Erak had agreed that it would be best to postpone the diplomatic work for several weeks, until the babies had been born and Alyss was sufficiently recovered enough to move independently. Alyss had discovered, to her slight surprise, that Erak was almost as concerned for her as any of her companions, and wouldn't hear of her attending any sort of meeting until everything had been taken care of.<p>

"No way are you doing any work until you have those babies of yours," he had told her firmly. She had agreed, and found that she was going a little cabin crazy. She accepted her plight with grace, however, aware that for the sake of her future children and herself that it would be unwise to overexert herself. Neither her nor any one of her friends, however, were aware that things were going to come to a head soon—very soon.

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><p>It happened in the morning.<p>

It was very early that morning—just after midnight—when Alyss was awakened by a sharp pain in her stomach. Her sleep-fuddled brain, however, passed it off as nothing, or if it was something, it was nothing to be woken up about. And so she went back to sleep.

Several hours later, it happened again. This time the pain was sharper and more intense. After several more hours of sleep, Alyss' now fully-functioning brain came to the conclusion that she must be going into labor. She felt surprisingly calm for realizing the fact. She supposed she was still only half awake.

She reached over and shook her husband's arm. "Will! Wake up!"

Will pulled his pillow over his head and mumbled something intelligible that Alyss knew would be her name, followed by more mumbling that she guessed to be something along the lines of "it's four in the morning, go back to sleep." She persisted, however, and was rewarded several seconds later by the sight of Will's tired and slightly annoyed face looking back at her.

"Alyss, it's four in the morning," he began, but she cut him off with one big breath.

"I'm sorry, I just felt something in my stomach, and I think I might be going into labor, but I'm not sure, and could someone please get Ola?—because she said to when I thought I was going into labor and—put me down!"

Will ignored Alyss and carried her out of their room. "Will, put me down, I can walk!"

Shortly—Alyss never really remembered what happened after that—Halt and Horace had been awakened, and Horace had gone to fetch Ola—and then the kindly midwife was bustling along beside Will as he carried her back to the bedroom while she, Alyss later assumed, did nothing but scream and demand to be put down. The pain was getting worse and the frequency was increasing, and as a result Alyss was growing steadily more short-tempered.

"You can put her on the bed," Ola said, hurrying into the room ahead of Will and Alyss. "You two," she said to Halt and Horace, "can wait here." And she proceeded to close the door in their stunned faces.

Alyss, meanwhile, was preoccupied. She screwed up her face at the pain, which was getting worse by the minute. "It's all right, dear, this is perfectly normal," Ola assured her.

"Normal?" Alyss said through gritted teeth. "This is unimaginable!" She felt Will sit down on the bed beside her and take her hand in his own, and determined though she was to remain cold to him—for it was his fault she was experiencing this kind of pain in the first place—she felt her grip tighten against his. She could be cold to him later. Right now, she needed him more than she ever had in her whole life.

And he was determined to stay with her until the very end.

It didn't make the pain go away, but it was enough.

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><p>Eight hour later, Halt, Horace, and Erak, who had joined the duo waiting outside as soon as he had heard the news, heard the moans and cries from inside replaced by the screaming wail of a baby. And then another.<p>

"They're harmonizing," Erak said weakly. Horace cracked a smile.

* * *

><p>An hour after that, the threesome were finally invited inside the bedroom by a tired Ola. "You can come in now," she said lowly, "but you must be quiet. Everyone is tired." Halt nodded at her, and then the three practically dashed inside.<p>

It took Halt a moment to make sure everything was as it should be. Alyss was alive—check. Will was alive—though tired and dazed-looking—check. Four now quiet babies safely in their parents' arms—check. Wait—what?

"Four," Alyss said quietly, and Halt could tell she could still barely believe it herself. "_Four._"

"How in the world are we going to handle four babies at once?" Will asked, though Halt could see from the way he was looking down at his new child that nothing could have been farther from his mind.

"I'm sure you'll manage," Halt said gently, sitting on the bed between Will and Alyss. "Both of you. You'll be wonderful parents." He flashed a genuine smile in Alyss' direction, and she returned it weakly.

"Here, Halt," she said, taking one of her sleeping children and holding her out to Halt, who took her into his arms more carefully than he had anything in his whole life. "Your granddaughter."

Halt was sure, later, although he never would have told anyone, that his heart had absolutely melted at the sight of his little granddaughter's face. She was sleeping so peacefully, as though nothing in the world could wake her. She was so _tiny._

"What're their names?" Horace asked in an awed sort of voice, and Halt was snapped out of his daze in time to see that Horace was also holding a baby—a boy, from the looks of it.

"The one you're holding, Horace," Alyss said, shifting her daughter carefully in her arms, "is Daniel James." Halt smiled at the mention of Will's father. It was just like Will to choose a name like that, he thought.

Will was next. "The little girl Alyss has is named Megan Pauline." Once again, Halt smiled. If Will was practically his son, then that made Alyss his daughter. And he couldn't have asked for a better one, he thought, feeling a hint of moisture behind his eyes. He blinked it back, realizing that it was Alyss' turn once again.

"Halt, the boy Will has is actually your namesake," she said. Everything around Halt seemed to freeze, except for Alyss, who kept talking, and Will, who kept smiling, apparently unable to stop. "Nathaniel Halt Treaty."

Halt, for once, could find no words to express himself. "Thank you both so much," he finally managed. "But you didn't have to..."

"Don't be silly," Alyss said in her no-nonsense sort of voice. "We wanted to do it—Will especially." Halt smiled at his former apprentice, and was rewarded with a smile in return.

"Then I'm honored," he said. "Both of you. But," he said, "who's this?" And he inclined his head down at the girl in his arms. Will smiled. Halt wondered if he would ever _stop _smiling.

"That is Caitlyn Aubrielle," he said. Halt smiled again as well.

"Wonderful names," he said. "Wonderful names picked by wonderful parents for wonderful parents." And yet again, he smiled—beamed, really—at both new parents. "Congratulations, both of you."

"Thank you, Halt," Alyss said. Halt saw her eyelids fluttering and made a motion to Erak and Horace.

"We'll be leaving now," he said. "You need your rest. All of you," he added meaningfully. Ola came back into the picture suddenly, hurrying visitors out of the room and politely closing doors once again in others' faces. Halt didn't even know where she had disappeared to in the first place. Apparently it hadn't been very far.

"I don't think I can sleep," Horace said finally. Halt shook his head in agreement.

"Me neither," he said. "But all the same, I think we should try."

Erak shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe they had four."

"I can," Halt said, unable to prevent what he swore to himself would be the last smile of the night. But he was wrong.

Alone in his bedchambers, in the dark, and under his warm bedcovers, he smiled one last time at the thought of his new family.

* * *

><p><strong>There you have it. Chapter five. <strong>

**Words: 1483**

**I really liked this chapter, but I don't know about you. And guess what? Unless you review, I never will. :) So make sure I don't die of curiosity and get those reviews rollin'. **

**Much love,  
>Christine<strong>


	7. In Which Halt and Will have a Talk

**Revision Note: My revision note for this chapter is actually at the bottom, so if you want to skip down to the bottom and read that first, fine with me. Just so long as you don't skip the chapter completely... **

* * *

><p>This was what Will thought of when he thought of Skandia: warm fires, time spent with friends, the scent of heady pine smoke lingering in the crisp spring breeze. He and Halt were sitting in front of a fireplace in one of the many rooms in the complex maze of doors and hallways that made up the Hallasholm Commons, each nursing hot mugs of coffee and talking in quiet tones. For the first time since their birth, all four Treaty babies were sleeping peacefully. Ola and Horace had assured Will and Alyss that they would look after them while they slept, and had urged the new parents to get out and do something. And so Alyss was talking with one of the women of Hallasholm she had met and quickly befriended upon arrival, and Will and Halt had holed up in front of a cozy fire to do some talking.<p>

"So," Halt began conversationally. "How are you feeling right about now?"

Will shrugged and shook his head slightly. "I don't even know. Thrilled, scared, overwhelmed... Maybe a little bit of everything." He smiled, and Halt felt a corner of his mouth twitch upwards in response. "It's definitely worth it, though."

"It's going to be rough when they start walking," Halt said, taking a sip of coffee. Will nodded.

"Yes, that thought had occured to me." He grinned wryly.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Keep your knives out of reach," he said sardonically. Will rolled his eyes, though he was obviously smiling.

"I sort of figured that one out on my own, thanks." They lapsed into a comfortable silence while they continued drinking their coffee. Surprisingly, Halt was the one to eventually break it.

"Have you thought about godparents yet?" he asked. Will nodded.

"Yes, actually, Alyss and I were just talking about that this morning." He grinned fondly, then slowly the grin dissipated. "_Early_ this morning." Halt cracked a smile at his former apprentice's clear displeasure at being up at such an hour. "We were thinking that Horace and Cass could be godparents for Nathan and Megan, and Gil and Jenny for Danny and Caitlyn."

Halt nodded. "I'm sure they would be honored. Have you asked Horace yet?" Will shook his head.

"We wanted to ask Horace and Cassie together. Besides, she might need a while to recover after hearing the news. I sure did."

"I think we _all_ did," Halt replied with feeling. "We were expecting twins."

"Which would have been trouble enough," Will said emphatically, but was unable to keep the smile off his face. For all the odd hours and occasional complaints, Halt knew that Will was absolutely elated to be a father, and that Alyss felt much the same way about motherhood.

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Halt said mildly. He stood up and stretched, emptying the dregs of his coffee into the fire and sitting back down. Then, on impulse, he added, "I meant it when I said you'll both be excellent parents, Will."

Will smiled at him. "We had wonderful parents to learn from." Halt smiled back at him, acknowledging the close bond that had formed between the two of them through the years.

Now it was Will's turn to stand. "Well, I'm going to go get some sleep. 'Night, Halt." Halt looked up at him, one eyebrow raised practically to the ceiling.

"It's afternoon." Will frowned and looked out a window, seeing blue skies and white clouds which confirmed the fact that it was, in fact, midafternoon.

"Oh," he said. "I didn't notice."

Halt smiled fondly at the retreating form of his former apprentice. For all of his inquisitiveness, curiosity, and easily excitable nature, he knew that he hadn't been lying. Will and Alyss would really make great parents. As a matter of fact, they already were.

* * *

><p>When Will returned to the room he, Alyss, and their children were staying in, he found Alyss already sleeping on the couch. He smiled to himself at the sight. Even completely and utterly exhausted, she was still absolutely stunning.<p>

Gently, so as not to wake her, he lifted her up bridal style and carried her over to her side of the bed, laying her down and brushing her long blonde hair out of her face. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and lifted the thick blanket over her sleeping form before crawling over to his side and pulling the blanket over himself.

Beside him, he could hear Alyss' deep breathing. He could hear silence from the rest of the room, meaning that the babies were all sleeping peacefully - and soon, hopefully, he would be as well.

He moved deeper into the warmth of the down blanket, smiling contentedly. Right then - for once - everything couldn't have been more perfect.

And he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there you have it. Chapter six. I know the ending was kind of cheesy, but - yeah.<strong>

**Just a little heads up: I am _completely_ rewriting this story. There are huge time gaps that I skipped in the first version because I didn't feel like writing them that I am now busy filling in, and the revised version is going to be several chapters longer, in the end, than the first version. This story was nine chapters (not including prologue) before I revised it; now that I'm rewriting, I think we're looking at anywhere from fifteen to eighteen. I don't think you can really complain about that, but just so you know: it's going to be a lot harder to skip from a revised chapter to a non-revised chapter because the time skips _will _get confusing. For example, by this time in the old version, the gang was already back in Araluen and had talked with Cassie and the King. In the new version, you can plan on them being in Skandia for another chapter or two, or maybe even three.**

**Reviews are love!**


	8. CHAPTER BEING REWRITTEN

Chapter 7

All for Love

Alyss groaned and turned over in her bed. Nathan had woken them up in the middle of the night, screaming for… Something. Will, being the noble idiot that he was, had decided to take care of it. And now, fifteen minutes later, nothing had happened. Alyss sighed, fighting the extreme urge to growl. It looked like Nathan was hungry—and there was no way Will could take care of that.

She wanted to just pull her pillow over her head and try and go back to sleep. She wanted to ignore all her problems until morning. Quite frankly, all she wanted was to get some peace for a few hours.

But doing all those things meant leaving a clueless Will with a screaming child, both of whom needed her.

Sighing again, she pulled herself out of bed, muttering a few words under her breath that would have made sailors blush. But her heart wasn't in them.

_Thirty minutes later_

"Will, why do we do this?" Alyss asked her husband, leaning her head on his chest tiredly. She was holding a now sleeping Nathan in her arms.

She felt Will shrug beneath her. "I dunno." There was a pause. Then, Will uttered possibly the most sensible words that had ever come out of his mouth.

"I guess it's love."

Alyss gave a small smile. "Yes. It's just a labor of love." Will turned his head.

"Why must you be so poetic?" Alyss laughed.

"I need to make up for all that you lack."

They sat in silence for several minutes. Will turned to Alyss to ask her a question, but found her fast asleep.

One of the other babies woke up, and a squalling sound filled the house. He took a quick glance down—Alyss was still asleep. He gently lifted her off of his chest and set her down on the couch. Then he got up to go calm the child.

He was almost out of the room when he turned around, surveying the area. His eyes fell and rested upon his wife.

"You're right, Alyss," he whispered. "It's all a labor of love."

**Chapter 7 stats: 359. I know what you're thinking: Short, short, short! I did, however, update this a lot faster than I normally do. You should get used to that, though. Because I go back to school on the 6****th****, and I get a lot more homework this year, I really want to get a lot done on this site before those math sheets starts rolling in. So all you lucky ducks out there should get ready!**

**Chapter 8 is already almost done. I'll be trying to get that up within the next few days. I'm also working on a songfic to 'This is Home' by Switchfoot and a oneshot called Different about Will when he comes back from Skandia. Different is now going on 6,000 words and 20+ pages in Word, so that's gonna be a long one. **

**I'm also working on my stuff from the Harry Potter fandom, so to all my HP readers out there: I have not forgotten you!**

**Until the next update,**

**Christine.**


	9. CHAPTER  NOT YET REPLACED

**Aargh, I'm so sorry about the long wait! I've kept you waiting for, like, 8 weeks, and I know that's unacceptable. School got in the way of my typical updating schedule, and that messed me up a lot. But I'm back! Yay!**

Chapter 8

The Reason Why

Halt was sleeping.

This wasn't particularly unusual—Halt always found that an hour-long nap sometime in the afternoon helped keep one keen and alert while on missions. Of course, Halt wasn't on a mission at the moment, but he still found it remarkably refreshing to awaken from a gentle rest to the sound of birds softly singing in the trees and squirrels running up and down the big oak in the yard outside the castle.

Today, he had dozed off in the large armchair by the window. This was where he could usually be found between one and two o'clock. The house was silent. Ironically, the silence was what wakened him.

Some part of his brain—the part that unconsciously alerted him of danger while on missions—registered the absence of noise and forced his eyes open. He mentally snapped at it, then stood up.

Yawned.

After a few seconds, the fuzzy feeling left his brain and he realized why he had woken up.

He cursed and stomped into the house. "Danny?" he called.

Silence.

Now, much as Halt longed for and craved silence, he had found that, when babysitting young children, silence was usually a bad thing.

And so now, here he was: Stomping through his apartments, looking for a one-year-old, who had mysteriously gone missing. He didn't even know one-year-olds _could _go missing!

"If they can," he mused aloud, "Then that must be about all that they can do. He's _one, _for goodness' sake!"

In all his thinking, he had neglected to actually look up. Normally, he wouldn't care. He regretted it this time, though, when he slammed into a bookshelf.

Slightly cross-eyed, he missed the torrent of books that were about to fall down upon him…

o O o O o

Baron Arald was walking down to his office. He had just attended an extraordinarily boring meeting, and was yawning slightly. Funny how those sorts of things make you sleepy, he thought.

He was almost at the end of the hallway when he reached the apartments that were currently occupied by Halt and Pauline. Normally, this was the quietest part of the hall. Not today, he thought, putting his ear to the door. He jerked back as he heard a series of loud thumps from inside the apartment, followed by some muffled cursing.

"Never can tell with those Rangers," he muttered to himself as he walked away.

o O o O o

Halt sighed bad-temperedly.

Danny really hadn't been getting up to anything. Well, anything except sleeping, that was. But, thanks to Halt's post-sleep bleariness, the blessed silence was no longer. Unsurprisingly, the loud pounding noise of several dozen books hitting Halt's body, coupled with Halt's loud cursing, had woken the boy.

And so it was, Halt thought sourly, that he was over here putting books back on the shelves, trying to massage his aching forehead, and make sure that Danny didn't kill himself trying to crawl. All at the same time.

Being a grandfather wasn't always easy, he thought to himself. No, at some times, it was downright difficult. Like this one.

So why, Halt asked himself as he slumped down over his table in exhaustion, did he even bother?

o O o O o

"Did he behave himself?" Will asked as he took the once again napping Daniel from Halt's arms. Halt snorted.

"Hardly. But that's a story for another time." Will's eyes traveled to the large, conspicuous-looking bruise on Halt's forehead.

"Would it have anything to do with that?" he asked as innocently as possible. Halt glared at him.

"I said another time." Will grinned.

"Well, we should be leaving. Before Alyss has a panic attack."

"With four kids, she should be allowed a panic attack every now and then." Halt was rewarded with the sight of Will smiling slightly.

"Perhaps. I would prefer, however, that it didn't happen tonight." He adjusted the sleeping baby in his arms and sighed.

"We should get going, lest Alyss have my head for not helping with dinner. See you soon, Halt." Will turned and went out the door, trying not to trip over the large tree root that had grown out of the ground right beneath the steps.

Halt watched the figure of his former apprentice diminishing as he walked home, his son still sleeping soundly in his arms.

Maybe this whole grandparenting thing was hard, Halt mused. But it couldn't possibly be harder than parenting. Comforted by that thought, he smirked and went inside. Did he feel sorry for Will?

Not in the slightest.

**Yeah. Please review - I hope that by now I don't need to say that. I appreciate all constructive criticism, but flames will be responded with in kind. Yes, I do have a vengeful dark side. Muahahahaha!**

**Chapter word count: Chapter Eight: 763 words. Not a lot, I know, but I'll try and update soon.**

**Ciao for now,**

**Christine**


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